Warning: timeline's shot to hell here. This should be in 1982, but X-Japan was just a college band then, and I wanted them in this fic. So I messed with time ^_^V But I tried to keep quoting songs to a minimum, so count your blessings! Also, I call them X because they only changed their name in 1992, which is 2 years after Tokyo Babylon >_< I'm keeping them with their look and repertoire of around "Blue Blood" (1989). Thanks to Rachel for help with translating X lyrics! Still blamed on and dedicated to Anne-chan ^_^
Series: X, CCD, TB
Pairings: Seishirou + Subaru, Tooru x Saya,
OMC x Kazuki, Karen + Aoki
Warnings: Almost total AU, fluff, major OOC,
original characters, shojo-ai, shonen-ai,
shotacon possibility (platonic only)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Most things belong to Clamp, except for Tetsuo,
who's mine, and X (X-Japan) who belong to themselves
Clamp Campus X
Chapter 2: Concert
by Beth
Tooru Magami sighed as she sat down between Seishirou and Saya in the cafeteria. She dug into her lunch with resignation as her black-haired friend prattled excitedly - something he'd have never done with a different subject matter.
"I can't believe we got the tickets, they're so good, and the lyrics are simply beautiful, and the music's outstanding, Yoshiki-sama has a talent you can't match-"
"I don't know how I got talked into this," she muttered into her sandwich.
"And don't forget Hide-sama!" another voice added. Tetsuo Yatouji sighed dreamily. "I wish I could play guitar so good... and he's got this attitude, just screaming he's different and doesn't care, and-"
"And they look sooo cute with Yoshiki-sama!!" Saya cut in. The blond girl's face sported a dreamy expression that matched the two boys'.
"Oh yeah," Tooru realized. "That's how."
Subaru stared at the sakura trees in the campus park. They were already breaking into bloom. He remembered that the whole school was supposed to take a day off in a week and go into Ueno to watch the blossoms. Imonoyama-rijichou had rented the whole park-
He jumped and yelped as a hand covered his eyes. Instinctively, he reached for his ofuda, but stopped when he heard familiar warm laughter.
"Seishirou-sempai, you scared me," he complained quietly.
"I'm sorry, Subaru-chan. But you were looking so lonely, and I do think your lessons have ended now - do you want company back to your dorm?"
The seven-year-old's face lit up in a brilliant smile. "Sure!" He paused for a moment. "But don't you usually go home with Tooru-sempai?"
"She took Saya-chan out for ice-cream," Seishirou explained. "She announced she has to get some quality time before the concert this evening."
"Concert?"
"Oh, you don't know - Yatouji only managed to get the tickets this morning. We're going to see X at Club Noir. Heard of them?"
Subaru nodded. "They're my sister's favorite band."
The older boy laughed. "I think they're a bit too violent for a seven-year-old girl."
"Hokuto-chan says the songs are romantic." Subaru blushed. "So do I..."
"And what's your favorite?"
"Weekend."
An eyebrow rose. "Is it?"
"Yes." He concentrated for a minute, then quoted: "I've nothing to lose, love me till the end, except your heart..."
A mischievous glimmer appeared in Seishirou's eye. "Subaru-chan, would you like me to get you an autograph at the concert?"
Green eyes lit up like emerald candles. "Really? Yoshiki-sama's?"
"Sure."
Seishirou suddenly found himself hugged briefly, before Subaru stepped back, mortified. The older boy diffused the tension by chuckling, and soon they laughed together.
At five p.m. the Clamp Senior High sophomore magical team was assembled in front of the club that would host the concert. Other rock fans milled around them, but kept a respectful distance; this impression could have been due to the fact that Tetsuo had pampered his Hide hairdo to perfection, and both his vest and Seishirou's leather jacket sported enough studs to set off a metal detector. Compared to their outfits (which also included black leather pants slashed with razors at the sides to show off the red satin lining), Saya's crimson Victorian dress and Tooru's mock-eighteenth-century frock looked positively demure. Seiichiro was feeling decidedly out-of-place, dressed as he was in simply an X t-shirt and jeans.
"Shouldn't we get closer to the entrance?" the young windmaster suggested.
"Just a minute," Seishirou said absent-mindedly. "Tooru-chan, is my make-up alright?"
"It'd better be, I spent half an hour on it!" Tooru laughed. "And see, I was right - orange eyeshadow fits you better than pink."
"I don't know..." Saya shook her head. "With pink eyeshadow, he'd match Tetsuo-kun's hair..."
The two boys in question shuddered in unison.
"Look, they're opening the doors," Seiichiro pointed out.
They quickly pushed through the crowd, aided by a few subtle illusions courtesy of Seishirou's. Once inside, they found their way to the stage with unerring precision. The supporting band was already starting, but they promptly ignored it, instead leaning against the security railing and scrutinizing the crowd.
"Look," Saya pointed at a boy all but covered in silver chains and pendants, with three rings on each finger and multiple ear piercings. "How much money do you think this guy spends on jewelry alone?"
"He'd look better without it," Seishirou answered, which caused Tetsuo to wince.
The pink-haired boy changed the subject. "How much longer are they going to whine like that?" he asked, motioning toward the band.
"Dream on," Tooru muttered, slumped against the railing. "You'll be lucky if the real show starts in an hour."
"How do you think one can get an autograph from X?" Aoki mused.
"I didn't know you were that much of a fan?" Saya commented.
"Um... Karen-chan is, and she... um..."
"Asked you to get one," Seishirou prompted. "I need to get one, too."
Tetsuo's eyebrows rose. "I thought you had a full set?"
"It's for someone."
Tooru perked up immediately. "Oooh, has the arrow of romance finally pierced you heart? Who is the lucky person?"
His answer was cut short by the announcer's voice over the speakers, which informed them that X would be coming onstage in thirty minutes.
"Not much time left to assemble the devious scheme for operation 'Obtain the Autographs'," Saya giggled.
Tooru flashed a V-sign. "So let's get scheming!"
"New York kara ore no heya made
kuroi curtain de ooitsukuse Velvet Night!"
"Ouch!" Tooru yelled as a leather-clad guy hit her on the head with his elbow.
Predictably, the area closest to the stage was a battleground, but she settled in for a quick elbow to the guy's ribs. Then she felt hands grab her, and before she knew it, she was lifted off the floor. She sat swaying on Seishirou's and Tetsuo's shoulders, almost at eye-level with Toshi. She sang with the crowd, feeling the energy float through her, half-wondering what would happen if anyone ever harnessed this rock-concert buzz and put it into magic...
"Hey! Celebration!
Ring a bell! Swing your heart! Sing a song!
Hey! Celebration!
Throw away! Sail away! Shout it out!"
"Days of joy, days of sadness slowly pass me by
As I try to hold you, you are vanishing before me
You're just an illusion"
The entire club swayed to the rhythm, some of them holding cigarette lighters. Saya moved a bit away from her group in the partly thinned-out crowd, while trying to get Seishirou's cigarette lighter to work. Suddenly she yelped when arms wrapped around her.
"Hello, babe," a half-drunk guy murmured in her ear. "Romantic song, ne?"
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Seishirou, Tetsuo and Aoki start moving toward her, but before she could signal to them, or extricate herself on her own, her captor let go and fell to the floor in evident pain.
Behind him stood a grim-faced Tooru.
"Hey, what gives?" he moaned.
"Mine!" she snarled. Then she turned to Saya and kissed her deeply, earning a spontaneous burst of applause from those closest.
"Endless rain, let me stay
evermore in your heart
Let my heart take in your tears
take in your memories"
"X! kanjite miro! X! sakende miro!"
Feel it! Scream!
What the crowd was doing could only be compared to a ritual - an ancient, frightening one where the participants lost themselves in the music, in the movement, in their united minds.
"X! subete nugisutero!"
Take everything off and throw it away!
For Seiichiro, it was a new experience to shed the rules, the expectations. He screamed his heart out, not caring if anyone heard him. For once, he was real. Not a good boy, his parents' pride, a future salaryman. There was nothing else left but him.
"X! kanjite miro!"
Feel it.
As he yelled the words, Tetsuo forgot himself. In the moment, there was no past. No family computers. No too-slick freemasons tempting him with dreams of glory. No heartbreak each time he heard Kazuki cough her lungs out in a bout of the same sickness that had nearly killed her in childhood. No cold.
"X! sakende miro!"
Scream!
Jumping for all she was worth, with one hand wrapped securely around Tooru, Saya screamed. It came to her in a moment of crystal clearness just how lucky she was to be living now - with no war, no fighting, no prophecies like in the old times. She was free to be herself. Free to scream.
Faintly, she heard Seishirou laugh.
"X! kokoro moyase!"
Burn in your heart.
Seishirou was laughing, for no reason but that in this brief moment he was able to feel, just a bit. A sharp sting of happiness, sweet for all its briefness. There was nothing burning in his heart, but in moments like these he could pretend -
-that he didn't see the pair of innocent green eyes that had looked straight into his soul.
"X! You don't have to hesitate!
Get yourself out!
You know You are the best!
Let's get Crazy!"
"Slice them ! Slice them till they're running in blood!"
Tooru motioned to Seishirou and Aoki as the last song of the encore drew to a close. "Operation Autograph," she mouthed.
"Close up ! Close up their mouth
using thread and needle!"
They started moving toward the side of the stage. Tetsuo and Seishirou didn't hesitate to use their elbows to clear the way, and many a guy too slow in getting away found himself kicked in the shins by a certain black-haired vixen. Saya and Seiichiro followed at a distance, trying very hard to pretend they were not with the other three.
Getting past security was a breeze with one of Seishirou's illusions, but then they found themselves faced with a more serious obstacle. They were in a maze of twisted passages, all alike.
Four pairs of eyes turned expectantly to Saya.
"Give me a moment," she muttered. Then she pointed. "That way!" They started running.
The song ended and they ran all that much quicker. Finally they saw their targets: Toshi, Yoshiki, hide, Taiji and Pata, otherwise known as X.
"Fans!" Toshi flinched.
The band members turned to run, but Aoki was ready with a small whirlwind that effectively blocked the passage.
Yoshiki reluctantly turned back toward them. "What do you want?"
Seishirou beamed. "Just a few autographs, if you'd be so kind - we're all great friends of you, and-"
With a quiet hiss, a secret door in the corridor wall slid open at the touch of hide's hand. At the same time, smoke filled the corridor.
Saya swore in a most unladylike way. "They're going into the subway."
"That way!"
Moments later, they were running onto the station - but the carriage door closed right in front of them.
"Damn!" Seishirou seethed as the train started to move.
Tetsuo smirked. "Watch and weep, Sakurazuka."
He spread his hands, and the lights around them blinked, then went off. Only the distant red of warning signs provided the illumination, bleak glints on the wires writhing on the walls.
The wires twisted out of their pathways and the train stopped.
They could see the band members frantically trying to get out, but the doors were sealed - apart from the one in front of them, which opened politely at the touch of Tetsuo's hand.
"Please do not be alarmed," Seishirou said genially. "We only wish to obtain autographs..."
Yoshiki looked around for a way out, but stood down when Tooru flashed him a grin and crackled a small ball of energy between her hands.
"So how many do you want?"
"Nice," Tetsuo muttered, shuffling his collection of autographed photos. "You do know those can be worth quite a lot?"
"Mhm," Tooru yawned. "How many did we get, in all?"
"I got five for the girls in our class," Saya mused, "then Aoki-kun got three for Karen, Sakurazuka-kun got three for whoever it is, and Tetsuo-kun got six."
"And each one's signed by all five of them?" Tooru smirked. "No wonder they complained of finger cramps!"
"Mmm," Seishirou nodded noncommitally. "See you all tomorrow."
"Bye!" Saya waved to him.
Seishirou changed his route and headed straight to Clamp Campus. Fortunately, the dormitories were on this side, and he knew exactly which window he was looking for. It only took three rocks thrown against the glass to wake up Subaru.
"Seishirou-sempai?" the boy wondered cutely, leaning through the open window. "What are you doing here this late?"
"Stand back, Subaru-chan," the older boy said simply. A single leap brought him to the window ledge, where he waved three signed photos in Subaru's face. "I've got something for you!"
"Wow!" The green eyes lost any traces of sleepiness. "Thank you!"
Seishirou found himself in another hug, from which he extricated himself gently.
"Go to sleep now," he insisted. "I just wanted you to have those today."
Subaru's eyes misted with tears. "No-one's ever been that nice to me before..." he whispered.
"Watch it!" Seishirou laughed. "Take heed of Nokoru-chan's warning: I'm always up to no good!"
He bowed and jumped out of the window, opting for the rooftop route to his house. Absentmindedly, he wondered whether being as cute as Subaru-chan shouldn't be illegal...
~To Be Continued~
Author's notes:
Pretty pointless chapter, but so's the fic ^_^ I'll have more plot in the next part, promise! It'll be called "Cherry blossoms"...
X lyrics courtesy of Roger's Not Only Fanfics - spasibo!
Songs, in order of appearance: "Celebration", "Endless Rain", "X" and "Rose of Pain"
Thanks to Rachel for the translation of "X" chorus.
Post-concert part is pure insanity, Beth-style ^_^